1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to disk drives and data storage systems for computer systems. More particularly, the disclosure relates to systems and methods for reducing the size of translation tables used by a disk drive or other data storage system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Disk drives typically comprise a disk and a head connected to a distal end of an actuator arm which is rotated about a pivot by a voice coil motor (VCM) to position the head radially over the disk. The disk comprises a plurality of radially spaced, concentric tracks for recording user data sectors and embedded servo sectors. The embedded servo sectors comprise head positioning information (e.g., a track address) which is read by the head and processed by a servo controller to control the velocity of the actuator arm as it seeks from track to track.
Disk drive capacity has grown by nearly six orders of magnitude since the introduction of magnetic disk storage in 1956. Current magnetic disk drives that use perpendicular recording are capable of storing as much as 400 Gbit/in2. However, this is rapidly approaching the density limit of about 1 Tbit/in2 (1000 Gbit/in2) due to the superparamagnetic effect for perpendicular magnetic recording. Accordingly, new approaches for improving storage density are needed.